Blog - 10 - University of Missouri Athletics

Time Out with Tori

By Keith Soder on September 27, 2011 7:45 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

What a weekend! On Saturday, Christine and I left our house in Columbia at 8 a.m. and started the drive to Norman, Oklahoma. We made the trip in eight hours and had a few good laughs along the way. We definitely struggled with the tolls! We couldn't ever figure out how much the toll was and then when we would throw the change in, it wouldn't give us the green light. I'm sure it was quite a sight to see me and Christine yelling at the toll light to just turn green! The game was a lot of fun. It's always fun to be in a different atmosphere. Nothing beats Mizzou though!

Throughout the game, I realized how great MU fans are. Christine and I were sitting in a small MU section and I realized how all MU fans come together. It doesn't matter if they don't know you, if you're in your black and gold, then you have automatic friends. MU fans are always so friendly and supportive!

The drive back home was a little more difficult. We left after the game, around midnight, and got home at 8 a.m. It was so weird to start driving when it was dark and then see the sun rise. We went 24 hours without sleep! Luckily, we got to sleep and take it easy on Sunday.

On Friday, we had the team golf outing. It was a lot of fun! It was great seeing and talking to so many of our supporters. We have the greatest fans! It was really neat to hear some of Coach Rutherford's stories, too!

The season is almost here!

Peace, Love and Basketball.

Tori Niemann

Time Out with Tori

By Keith Soder on September 20, 2011 8:19 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Last Monday was our team picture day, but this past Friday was our team photo shoot for our poster and our individual posters. It was so much fun! The pictures were supposed to be game like and we all had to keep straight faces. Do you know how hard it is to keep a straight face around our team? We were all busting out with laughter after trying to hold serious faces in front of each other. We were all practicing our "tough" faces before we took our individual pictures. I'm sure it was quite a sight for anyone watching us!

If there was an outsider watching our team, off the court, they would see our team in constant laughter. I think that's what's special about our team. Every single one of us gets along great with each other and we are always having fun. It doesn't matter if it's after scrimmaging, at a photo shoot or at dinner, we are always cracking jokes and just having a blast. I love that I know I can walk into our locker room and instantly have my day get better from just by being around my teammates.

This Saturday Christine and I are making the trip to Oklahoma to cheer on the boys at the football game. It's going to be a long trip and there's a good possibility we'll come back with some stories of getting lost or who knows what! Wish us luck!

And just an update, we haven't had any kitchen fires at our new apartment. But that also may be because I haven't cooked anything yet and I don't think Paige has used the oven either!

Peace, Love and Basketball

Tori Niemann

Mizzou Has Top-10 College Football Market According to Study

By Chad Moller on September 16, 2011 3:20 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Very cool news coming out of a study undertaken by The Media Audit. This company just did a study of the top college football TV markets, and Mizzou comes in at #10! A direct link to the report is here:

http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe6616777267077f7414&m=fef91672736d07&ls=fde71c75726d007c72127975&l=fe6415767660057e7010&s=fe2c157273620378751676&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe2517717d64007f7c1c77

Here's the text of the report, taken from The Media Audit's website (www.themediaudit.com):

What do Crimson Tide, Badgers, Buckeyes, and Wolverines all have in common? According to a new national report issued from The Media Audit, each is a team belonging to some of the top college football towns in America. According to The Media Audit, 77.1% of adults in Birmingham, Alabama regularly follow college football on TV or radio. As a result, Birmingham ranks as the top metro market among college football fans.

Madison, Wisconsin, home of the University of Wisconsin's Badgers, ranks second in the national poll, with 74.1% of the metro area's adults who regularly follow college football, followed by Columbus Ohio (73.5%), Little Rock, Arkansas (71.9%), and Ann Arbor, Michigan (71.5%). Among all U.S. adults, 47.4% regularly follow college football, a figure that represents more than 68 million fans across The Media Audit's 80 measured markets.

Collegiate football fans make ideal targets for many advertisers, including automotive, home improvement, and travel and leisure. According to the same study, 22.3% of college football fans are homeowners earning more than $100,000 in annual household income, and 26.5% have liquid assets in excess of $100,000. As a result, these fans can afford luxury automobiles and frequently travel. Among these same fans, they are 35% more likely than the general population to be planning the purchase of an automobile priced over $30,000 and 16% more likely to already own a luxury vehicle such as a BMW, Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Infiniti, Jaguar, or Porsche. Furthermore, college football fans are 18% more likely to be planning a cruise in the next two years, and 42% more likely to be frequent domestic air travelers.

Rounding out the top ten college football markets are Toledo, Ohio (71.3% regularly follow college football on TV or radio), followed by Omaha, Nebraska (70.7%), Jacksonville, Florida (68.9%), Boise, Idaho (68.8%), and Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri (68.1%), home of the University of Missouri Tigers.

Studies were conducted in 80 metro markets between January 2010 and March 2011 among more than 104,000 respondents. For more information, contact The Media Audit.

Mizzou-ASU TV Ratings at Hit

By Chad Moller on September 14, 2011 11:00 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Just got an update from Tim Allen in the Big 12 Conference office about the TV ratings for the past weekend of football on the ESPN/ABC family. The results show that the Mizzou-Arizona State game had great numbers, especially given the fact that the game was late night on Friday. The Mizzou-ASU game pulled the 4th-highest numbers of 15 games that aired over the extended weekend on the ESPN/ABC networks, and Mr. Allen said that ESPN was very pleased with the numbers of eyes on the Tigers last Friday.

For you number crunchers, here's a look at everything we were just given:

Date/Network/Time/Teams/Rating/Approx. Viewers

Sept. 10 - ESPN/8 p.m. - Notre Dame/Michigan - 5.2 rating / 7.54 million

Sept. 10 - ABC/3:30 p.m. - Alabama/Penn State - 3.9 / 6.08

Sept. 10 - ESPN/4:30 p.m. - South Carolina/Georgia - 2.8 / 3.94

Sept. 9 - ESPN/10:30 p.m. - Mizzou/Arizona State - 2.0 / 2.54

Sept. 10 - ESPN/12 p.m. - Oregon State/Wisconsin - 1.8 / 2.04

Sept. 10 - ESPN2/7 p.m. - BYU/Texas - 1.5 / 2.09

Sept. 9 - ESPN/7 p.m. - Florida International/Louisville - 1.4 / 1.65

Sept. 8 - ESPN/8 p.m. - Arizona/Oklahoma State - 1.1 / 1.50

Sept. 10 - ESPN2/3:30 p.m. - Cincinnati/Tennessee - 0.7 / 0.915

Sept. 10 - ESPN2/12 p.m. - Florida Atlantic/Michigan State - 0.5 / 0.640

Sept. 10 - ESPNU/7 p.m. - New Mexico/Arkansas - 0.4 / 0.579

Sept. 10 - ESPNU/12 p.m. - Central Michigan/Kentucky - 0.3 / 0.331

Sept. 10 - ESPNU/3:30 p.m. - Stanford/Duke - 0.3 / 0.312

Sept. 10 - ESPNU/10:30 p.m. - South Carolina State/Bethune-Cookman - 0.1 / .072

Sept. 8 - ESPNU/7:30 p.m. - Florida A&M/Hampton - 0.1 / .070

Time Out with Tori

By Keith Soder on September 13, 2011 7:34 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Monday was picture day! We took individual and team pictures in the arena. We had to dress up for some of the photos and wear our uniform for the others. It was quite a scene in the locker room when we were getting ready! Everyone came in from class in their t-shirts and shorts and we all changed into skirts, dresses and shirts with ruffles. The bathroom was full of us girls trying to straighten our hair and do our makeup. We clean up pretty nicely if I do say so myself! The coaches looked good too! It's always nice to see our whole team dressed up because so much of the time we are in basketball shorts and t-shirts. But we all survived picture day and hopefully all of the pictures turn out nicely!

This past week I had to write a blog for one of my classes and I thought I would share a little bit of what I wrote. The topic was my team.

I don't think anyone fully understands what a team means unless they are a part of the team. Unless they can say that's my team. And I don't mean a fan in the crowd cheering for their school, which they may call their team. Most people can cheer for a team, but could they handle being a member of that team? Being on a team means you have a team first mentality. Every decision you make affects the team and you must always put the team first.
Being on a team, my team, means we go through the trenches together.

Every day we grind it out in practice and physically and mentally exhaust ourselves trying to push one another to get better. Every day we challenge the next girl to lift more weight than they did on the last set. How many girls do you know that would feel comfortable bench pressing over a hundred pounds? Being on a team means that in practice we constantly battle, but we know that there are no hard feelings once practice is over. How many girls do you know that wouldn't make a big deal if one of their friends shoved them in the back or hit them with an elbow?

Being on a team, my team, means that I know I have 13 sisters, yes sisters, not just friends. When I'm on the baseline about to run sprints, I can always look to my right or my left and see my sisters right next to me. When I feel like I can't push myself any harder, I know that my sisters are next to me to give me that extra energy. I know that my team will never give up on me and will never leave me. That's a pretty incredible bond, knowing that no matter what, my sisters will always support me. How many people have that bond with 13 other people?

My team has shared moments that have brought us so close together that not many people could understand. The phrase "blood, sweat and tears" really does apply to the bond my team has. There are always scratches on one another from playing against each other. At the end of the day our workout gear is soaked in sweat. And there have been many long talks and heart to hearts with one another, whether it's in the locker room or outside of the arena, where there have been tears. It's okay to cry on my team. The emotions are real. When one of my teammates experiences sadness, the rest of us do as well. When someone is happy, we feel that way too. It's all love.

Not many people could handle what all comes with being on a team. But I couldn't handle not being on my team.

Peace, Love and Basketball

Tori Niemann

Time Out with Tori

By Kevin Fletcher on September 6, 2011 10:41 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

What a weekend! We had the last three days off and they were great! I know I caught up on some sleep and I'm pretty sure some of my teammates did too. Saturday was the first football game and most of us made it to the game. It was extremely hot, but still fun. After the game, we all cooled off at the pool.

Last week was our first week of individuals and they started off great. We went in groups of four. We had good intensity and worked hard! This week we have individuals again with four people and next week we go in groups of six.

This past Friday, after five-on-five, we had a team scavenger hunt. We broke up into three teams and had to run across campus to take pictures at different places. We had to run to the columns, Plaza, Shakespeare's, Memorial Union, the tiger and then meet back at the arena. My team won! Kyley, Christine and Paige were on my team. It was quite a workout running everywhere to try to beat the other teams!

With Monday out of the way, I'm ready to start the week. It helps that I only have two days of classes!

Peace, Love and Basketball.

Tori Niemann

Time Out with Tori: Guest Post

By Keith Soder on August 30, 2011 8:14 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Today's guest post is written by teammate Paige Spietz.

Today was the beginning of our second week back in school. By this time I feel like our days are starting to become somewhat familiar and we're not scrambling to find our classes or rushing to eat lunch before heading to the arena for our afternoon workouts. So far I think it is safe to say that we have started out the year on the right foot. With a summer full of hard work behind us, we now move on to individual workouts, which start tomorrow.

This year I feel like we have a great group of girls. In our time together so far, I feel like we've created great chemistry and have learned a lot about each other on and off the court. Outside of basketball, we've really come together as a team. I can tell everybody is looking forward to the season ahead!

As for me, things have changed a lot since last year. I recently moved into a new apartment with a couple of my teammates and living completely on my own has been somewhat of a challenge. I think the biggest thing has been trying to stay organized and get everything I need to get done finished before the day is over. Sometimes I wish there were just a few more hours in the day! Other than that I'd say things are going smoothly.

I think I can speak for my teammates as well as myself when I say that I'm looking forward to a great year as well as seeing all of you back in the stands for another great season!

Paige Spietz

Time Out with Tori

By Keith Soder on August 23, 2011 7:05 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The first day of class is over! We all survived. It wasn't that difficult to get back into school mode since we just finished summer school, but it is still a challenge because we all have full course loads now. Plus, there are a couple extra thousand students on campus that make getting everywhere a little difficult. But I think we are all excited for the new school year.

This past weekend, when I was at the lake with most of my family, my aunts pointed out that I made a typo in my last blog entry. I said that I was excited to see my aunt, uncles and cousins. This became a joke to see which aunt was the favorite aunt since I actually had seven aunts at the lake. But anyways, my last weekend of summer was great. There were 31 of my family members there and we spent our time talking, swimming and eating great food.

Sunday was the first day that all of our team was together. It was so great to see everyone again! We also welcomed Liene! We had our first lifting workout Monday and it went pretty well. It will be good to get back in the swing of workouts. We start individual workouts pretty soon. Individuals are groups of four that are ran by the coaches. They do drills with us and start teaching us new things. They are a little more like practice so that will be exciting to start! The season will be here before we know it!

Peace, Love and Basketball.

Tori Niemann

Time Out with Tori

By Keith Soder on August 16, 2011 7:38 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

One more week and school starts again! I'm ready to head back to Columbia and start my sophomore year. I think this year will go a little more smoothly than last year since everything won't be so brand new. Time has absolutely flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was moving into the dorms. It is nice though to not have the same freshmen jitters as last year. I'm excited to start a new year!

Last week in South Carolina was amazing! I had a great week with my family. We went to the beach every day, rough life, I know, and luckily the jellyfish weren't too bad. And no shark attacks! The 15 hour car ride wasn't the highlight of the trip, but it was good family bonding :)

This weekend I am going to the Lake of the Ozarks with my entire family on my mom's side. Our family does this once a year and we rent out a few condos and just spend the weekend together. It's always a great time to see aunt, uncles and cousins that I don't get to see too often.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Columbia and seeing all of my teammates. Plus, there's only a few more weeks until football starts!

Peace, Love and Basketball.

Tori Niemann

Time Out with Tori

By Keith Soder on August 9, 2011 7:53 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I'm writing from South Carolina! My family, which is my mom, dad, brother and I, drove to Georgia yesterday and to Hilton Head, South Carolina today. We survived the fifteen hours of driving! We pulled in today around 3 p.m. and headed straight for the beach. The weather is awesome here and we plan on spending all week just relaxing in the sand!

Last week was Shark Week on Discovery Channel, as some of you may know, and of course I watched plenty of it. Now, I am thinking that wasn't such a great idea since I'll be in the ocean this week! But honestly, I think I'm more afraid of the jellyfish in the water! I was stung a few years ago in Florida by one and I am still terrified of them!

Before you know it, it will be time to go back to Columbia for school to start. I'm excited to see all of my teammates again. We've only been apart for a week but it seems like much longer! But until then, you can find me on the beach!

Peace, Love and Basketball.

Tori Niemann

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Schedule

Blog - 10

Time Out with Tori

Time Out with Tori

Mizzou Has Top-10 College Football Market According to Study

Mizzou-ASU TV Ratings at Hit

Time Out with Tori

Time Out with Tori

Time Out with Tori: Guest Post

Time Out with Tori

Time Out with Tori

Time Out with Tori

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